What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need?

The choice of which hones to use, and even the use of them in general as it pertains to refreshing a blade, is considered one of the most personal issues in straight razor shaving. There is a saying: "There are 5,000 ways to cook a chicken. You know 5." The same idea may well be true when it comes to honing a razor. Therefore, we have compiled a number of thoughts on the subject to help you begin thinking about what will be best for you. The below list is neither authoritative, nor is it complete. It is intended to indicate what choices are available. The method or methods that will work for you is ultimately down to your own personal experience, skill, and the combination of razors and hones used.

Aspiring honers are often not clear about what they are trying to accomplish when it comes to honing razors. In particular, they are often unsure of what they are doing and how often they should be doing it. Some questions you might want to answer for yourself before you start buying hones:

Are you an "end-user"; someone who only hones a previously shave-ready blade back to shave-ready?

Are you a hobbyist who is chasing the absolute finest edge that may be obtained where money is no object?

Are you a frugal shaver who is after the cheapest way to complete your morning shave?

Are you a collector who needs to take E-bay specials from butt-ugly to shave-ready?

Are you going to offer all of these services to others for a fee?

Are you a razor restorer who needs to take damaged blades and bring them back to life and shave-readiness?

Each of these types of honer profiles have different requirements for the stones they will own. Theoretically, you can survive using the "one stone" approach, but each razor does have an optimum stone set - and more importantly, a technique for using the required hones. So generally, when somebody asks what stone or how to use what stone, the question to ask them is: "What are you trying to accomplish with the stone?"[1] Above all, however, stropping is the most important new skill you have to learn, not honing.

If the only task you want to perform is refreshing edges that have previously been established by a Honemeister (the process is often referred to as "touching up" on SRP), you need only get a fine grit finishing stone or a barber's hone for this. Either of these hones can be used to keep your razor(s) shave-ready for years. You could also consider using a pasted strop for this task. While it may not keep your razor going for as long as a finishing hone, it can keep it shave ready for quite some time. See the article below where this is discussed in further detail.

If you want to set a bevel, or have many different types of razors, you will need a full set of hones. When compiling the list below we originally tried not to mention brand names mainly because there are simply too many different hones. (and a corresponding number of opinions about each) Later on a few of the brands and types used frequently by our members have been added. Hopefully that will give you some info on what to research when trying to find the right hones for you.

A full set of hones will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following hones: [2] :

A bevel setting stone approximately 1k

DMT's 325 600 1200 (these are not recommended by all, as they are viewed by many to be too abrasive for a razor); Shapton 1K and 2K; Coticules with slurry; Norton 1k; Naniwa SS or Chosera 1k, Sigma 1K to name but a few of the options out there.

A sharpening stone approximately 4k

Norton 4K; Shapton 4K; Naniwa 4k or Chosera 3k or 5k; Sigma 3-5K; Belgian Blue Whetstone or Coticule with slurry, various Japanese Natural finishers with slurry. Other options are also available.

A polishing stone approximately 8k

Norton 8k; Shapton 8k; Naniwa 8k; Coticules; various Japanese Natural finishers with slurry. Numerous other options are also available.

A finishing stone 10k and above (this is often subject to debate, however)

In addition there are numerous other usable hones out there, both natural and synthetic.

It is hard to pinpoint what natural hones that'll work or not. For you.

The stones themselves all vary, even between rocks mined from the same area and time-period. Technique will also play a part in determining if a certain piece of stone will work. To some it might, to others it will not.

You have several choices of how to accomplish this setup whether you use natural, man-made stone, or a Diamond-style stone, but you are going to have to be able to cover those 4 grit ranges. There really is no true shortcut here if you expect to take razors acquired in need of restoration from butter knife dull (or damaged) to shaving sharp: You are going to end up needing these types of stones. There are many more options out there, both natural and man made. A lot of them are discussed on the SRP forums. Picking stones from what brands and makes are listed above will provide you with a user base that has a lot of input to give on how to use them in a honing progression.

This section was originally posted by Tony Miller[4], and addresses the question of which pastes to use for a pasted strop. It has since been extended using amongst others material posted by Glen Mercurio[5].

We get asked this question almost daily...."what pastes should we choose on a 4 side or 2 side paddle?" We hope our suggestions will hold up in practice for others or if you guys have certain tried and true suggestions that stand out above the others.

A substitute for the 8K side of a Norton. Useful in place of the stone for those who have not been able to master the Norton or choosing not to buy one. Also great if really refreshing single razor and not wanting to soak the Norton, make the mess etc. Yes, a stone sets a bevel more exactly but we are talking substitute here, not equal. An optional size if using pastes.

1.0 micron

Used quite often, again by non-stone users in the normal refreshing process. Great for guys who have a high tolerance for dulling edges and who tend to let an edge slip a bit before refreshing and when the 0.5 just won't bring it back quickly. A must have size if using pastes.

0.5 micron

The "go to" grit. A finishing paste for most. A few swipes every week, a few more if used ever two to three weeks will deliver the final, pre-hanging strop edge. Another must have size if using pastes.

0.25 micron

The "love it or hate it" paste for all who have tried it. For many it provides that needed extra to the edge or else the edge is not sharp enough (they love it). Or, it leaves a harsh face irritating edge for many or a nice shave but it needs refreshing far more often. We suspect people overhone with this leaving a slight wire edge that both irritates delicate skin and breaks down quickly requiring frequent trips back to the paddle. An optional size for one using pastes.

Others

There are numerous modern abrasives even finer in grit out there. Cubic Boron Nitrate and others. 0.01 micron are readily available in usable medias for our use today. Wether or not they are useful to us are the basis of many debates around the forums. As for the old time pastes, well we have not used any enough to comment. Makers include, but are not limited to, Dovo, Jemico, etc. All have traditional pastes that worked for our fathers and grand fathers for years. Red, Black, green, etc. slow, maybe a bit coarse but they did the job. More details can be found below.

Probably the most universal of the pastes, get the most pure you can find (please be advised that the bars you can buy from Woodcrafters are not pure). Chromium is generally considered a relatively slow cutter (compared to diamond). Its cutting ability may not be not quite as long lived as that of other pastes, but with its rounded crystal shape, it leaves a very face friendly edge for most users. Typically not available in any but 0.5 micron and as messy as fireplace soot but really a nice paste for finishing.

These pastes are available in grit sizes ranging from 3 micron down to actually .10 micron if you really wanted to. These pastes cut fast, and many people use them incorrectly and manage to get too harsh an edge. When used correctly and on the right razor steel, these will most likely produce the sharpest edge you will ever feel.

Diamond sprays are mostly found in 1.0 .50 and .25 micron. Diamond - in any grit size - is a fast cutting medium with sharp edged crystals. It will cut any razor steel quickly but for some leaves a slightly harsh edge even at the 0.5 micron level. Mind the Carat content: higher is better.

The following pastes made by Dovo are often referred to in the forum. Only the green, red, and black pastes have noticeable abrasive quantities. Dovo micron sizes do not relate directly to Diamond micron sizes. Dovo pastes are a milder abrasive

Green

5-8 micron, very aggressive

Red

3-5 micron, aggressive

Black

1-3 micron, medium

White

Not a finishing paste, but a strop conditioner for linen only; abrasive quantity unknown

Yellow

Not a finishing paste, but a strop conditioner for leather conditioner only; abrasive quantity unknown[6].

Now, many will say hones give the ultimate edge, and we do agree for those who can use them well. Not everyone masters hones; not everyone wants to. Many choose to use pastes 90% of the time and either hone occasionally or send the razor out to have it professionally honed. Many use both of these approaches. The initial bevel is set with stones, and pastes are used to keep that edge going for 6 months or a year before a hone is used again. There are areas of the world where they are less stone-centric than us, Like central and western parts of Europe.

Some people get different results with the same Grit rating. A Norton 4k/8k vs. DMT D8EE will get you to the same relative place; but most people will have a distinct preference in the use of one over the other because of smoothness...

Barber hones, such as Swatys, are often times used to do quick touch-ups of an already sharp razor. Some of the barber hones are of a finer grit than other stones which is why different people have preferences for different brands.

Coticules are a natural stone cut from sedimentary rock. They were the mainstay of barbers for many years, and are still favored by some. These stones are versatile in that you can create slurry by rubbing them with another stone causing them to cut faster, or you can use them with water only and they can be used as more of a finisher stone. Some old barbers would even use the lather from their hot lather machines in combination with these hones to achieve their own particular honing "perfection."[7]

The water stone category is a large category of hones which include the previously mentioned stones as well as other naturals such as the Escher and Thuringan family and the many synthetic hones. The Norton 4/8 used to be the recommended hone for beginning straight razor users until the Shapton Glass Stones and the Naniwa Super Stones came along. The Norton 4/8 Combo is still a good tool for a new person to learn to hone with, but the Naniwa Super Stones really seem made for straight razors and a set of 1K, 5K, 8K and 12K should provide a lifetime of great results. The Shapton Glass stones are certainly a good alternative to the Naniwa Super Stones as well.[8]

There are variations in the characteristics of natural stones since they are composed of whatever sedimentary material that time and weather dictated at the time of the forming of these stones. They will generally be similar, but some will cut faster than others which may be more suited to finishing. The synthetics are more uniform in composition, and are therefore more predictable. Doing the homework to learn which grits to use will get a razor sharp once the honing skills are developed using naturals or synthetics.[9]

Before buying a hone of any type, we recommend that you go through the hones category of this Wiki, in which you will find various articles that should help you decide what your use of a particular hone will be. This should help you determine the right stone(s) for you. Everyone does not need a set of Shapton hones, or a Japanese natural hone. We also want to encourage you to read the threads in the hones and honing sections of the forum that ask "What hone should I buy?", keeping in mind that the vast majority of the members answering these questions are only recommending what they use themselves without being able to compare to alternatives. There are shops out there that sells halfed or even quartered hones. It is hard to recommend these hones as they add unnessesary complications to honing.

There is also a number of things you should remember before buying from online auction stores:

There really are very, very, very, few true steals on hones on eBay...[10]

Chinese synthetic waterstones are attractive due to their low price. However, the stated grit is typically equivalent to a 2000 grit lower Japanese waterstone (e.g. a 8000 grit Chinese waterstone is roughly equivalent to a 6000 grit Japanese waterstone). SRP members who tried them found that the edges are not as comfortable to shave with as the other hones mentioned above.[13]